Tadgh Molloy's Day Will Come (fabhcun) wrote in angellogs, @ 2017-07-23 22:26:00 |
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Entry tags: | noah fon ronsenburg, shaun hastings, tadgh molloy |
Who: Noah, Shaun Hastings, Tadgh Molloy, Sebastian (barely)
When: Current
Where: Craigcrook Castle, Edinburgh
What: Noah’s invited Shaun over for a round of stress relieving coloring and some tea. Shaun brought Tadgh along.
Rating/Warnings:
Status: Complete
The alien mess mostly resulted in a squad or two showing up, and well - a window got shot, and a cop got a cup of tea, and looked - mildly unnerved when Noah helped out. Maybe it was the sword. Or the style? Either way, if the damage was just a window, there’s worse things to have happen.
Noah was honestly a little sad that his little plot of flowers got damaged. He planted some herbs, and a couple of pansies. He’s - got a feeling the cop is going to send him a plant if he’s not careful. What’d be the etiquette for that? Can you repeat offering tea and a coffee cake? Would that be rude because it’s the same hospitality? Should he donate to a charity?
The bakery in town has a new leak because the side door got bent weirdly on the hinges, but the glass was fine. They’re doing discounted bread for a bit via some fundraising relief plan thing. So he’s been making bread forever. At least it’s just peaceful work, and the proofing time would make it perfect if one of the kids wanted to come over. He should ask them.
The gatehouse has some new floral curtains flickering in the breeze, and it’s pretty obvious that it was redone in a sort of Craftsman style at some point. It’s cozy enough, and the windows are providing good ventilation to the house in the morning. He should close up eventually if the heat gets worse.
The assassins had had a few people trickle in through the hotel, opperating as a safehouse, and a few of them had gone a few places in the hopes of helping, but things stayed relatively okay in their area, with a lot of the local businesses carrying on no matter what. It’d worked out really well, for the most part, that defiance of the chaos around them.
Shaun had grinned over that at the time, in a sort of appreciating his background and herritage sort of way, because you KNEW Americans were going to be the ones whining about the entire thing, for months to come, and Tadgh had wound up sort of drawn into that, and they’re spending a bit more time together again, now that things are calm, which means he’s dragged him, along with some madeleines Arno had been trying out, and a victoria sponge from a bakery, just in case they’re not edible, to the Gatehouse for the afternoon. If it’s a real issue, he’s got plans in mind for what to do with him.
But he doesn’t think anyone will mind as he’s showing up. “You’re in luck!” he calls. “Arno was trying things out.”
Noah opens up the door, wearing an apron and carrying a dishtowel in one hand. “Ah. I’m looking forward to seeing what you brought. Master Falcon as well. Good to see both of you. Is everything all right?”
“Things are not bad, actually.” Shaun says, easily enough. “A bit weird, considering, aliens and all, but now that that’s going away, we’ve not got a lot to worry about have we? Besides the clean up.”
“Which isn’t as bad as it sounds.” Tadgh’s quick to supply. “Kind of amazing how fast the whole thing can pop back up again, but there you are. Continuity of Government.”
“And at least the damage was not bad here. Come on in? I can make tea, and you can see how you like the look of it. Or there’s other options. Would you like to join us, Falcon?” Noah moves back so they can come in.
“Please.” Tadgh gives him a little nod, “It’s good to see you.. I think it’s been a while hasn’t it?” They’ve met at some ooint he’s fairly sure. “Unless we haven’t run into each other. I can’t remember if you came by for Balthier or Basch when he was hanging round there.” He shrugs a little. “Either way, right?”
“You did come over. You dropped off the history textbooks and asked if we were Templars,” Noah sounds good natured enough about the matter as he talks. “Come on in. It has been a while. The general idea of all of this was that I offered Fawkes a quiet place, since - I’d like to have peace, if I can, for people.”
“Ah lovely.” Tadgh makes a face. “I was hoping I could blame half that on, well, someone else.” He eyedarts to Shaun briefly. “And a quiet place sounds good right now. Along with that. Things have gone a little wild. Not too bad, like we’d said, but...a break’s nice.”
“Someone else works. Evil twin,” Noah offers, and waves them over. “Come on in. Let’s get a mug, and we can settle up in the study.” There’s a flourishing plant on the windowsill and some photos and drawings up on the walls. It’s - cozy. Very green with the bits of green in the small tiles and the metal cabinets, but it’s cute enough. Clean.
“Sounds like a plan.” Tadgh agrees. “I’m not sure I want to meet my evil twin, but there we go.” he trails inside, getting a look around. “Oh this is kind of adorable, at risk of sounding like I’m losing some kind of credit. I blame hanging around with this lot.” He shrugs a little and Shaun rolls his eyes.
“The panelling is - painted glass or something like that? It’s - I think seventy years old or something like that, but it’s pretty easy to clean up.” Noah honestly loves the little nook. It’s good to doze with a newspaper and until the morning yoga program comes on.
“The study upstairs has a bunch paperbacks and coloring books. Which are - the doctor said it’d be good for Basch’s fine motor control. But there is something peaceful about it. If you’re curious. There’s a laptop up there, and sometimes I just run music and listen.” Noah shrugs. “But - you’re a guest too, Falcon. I want you to feel comfortable.”
He’s got a mug for himself, and he’s setting up the teapot. There’s a hot water kettle upstairs. And the squat rounded little toaster is now making some toast for him. Toast is nice to mess with when you have tea. Plus, if Basch shows up, he might eat some.
“So..thirty or so opposite that for you.” Shaun nods at Tadgh, “It DOES look like stepping into someone’s grandmother’s house a bit. In a good way.” He quickly adds, because it’s hard with his tones to tell ANYTHING that way.
“Wherever works for the rest of you.” Tadgh shrugs. “You know. I’d heard that about the coloring books, but I didn’t want to invest without some kind of weird sample study thing? Do they actually seem to work? There’s one featuring some of our lot.”
And there’s a quick vibrating going off on Noah’s phone, since he’s getting a text from up at the castle. Kind of a weird one, admittedly.
Noah picks up his phone. “Sorry - let me -” And then there’s a sappy distracted expression followed by a slightly perplexed one. “I think I got an apology note for an officer stepping on a flower in the little garden out there. That poor man. Let me quickly reply.”
Shaun snorts at the look and Tadgh just kind of rolls his eyes.
“Is it just me, or is that a universal thing?” Tadgh wonders, glancing at Noah a little. “I mean obviously, here’s case one, I KNOW Arno gets that look whenever he’s thinking about what’s her face, Alice,” He knows Elise’s name perfectly well, but it’s a measure he’s adopted just to show how annoying that development IS. “YOU do it when you…”
“Mmhmm right.” Shaun rolls his eyes. “The name Kate means nothing at all to ME. And wait, your cops apologize for things like that? Ours yell at us to get off of the roofs a lot.”
“It may’ve happened during an alien attack. And I may’ve just guarded his back with - uh - two rather large swords.” He may’ve backhanded an alien with a sword into a wall. “It was a bit chaotic. Losing a daisy with nothing worse than a broken window doesn’t seem that bad, but - I guess I told him I lived in the gatehouse near it?” Noah looks a bit sheepish. “My apologies. Sebastian called me a pet name. I’m still - amazed by that.”
“Damn.” Shaun finds the words first, and he sounds a little awed, actually. “Well, I’m impressed. Keeping your head, though. That’s important.” From the relatively outsider perspective, at least.
“TELL me there’s security footage.” Tadgh practically begs, then. “Sorry. Born into the wrong time, I think. Not that I can see myself brandishing anything heavy, but. It’s amazing when it’s other people.”
Noah chuckles. “Balthier and I use the same style, you know. Isannah, as far as I know, is closer to Basch. Balthier’s lighter on his feet, and I tend toward heavier blades. I do warm up in the practice yard. It’s good to keep the muscles limber and it’s a good workout. There’s - familiarity to it. Calum and Iomhar are both curious, I think.”
He’s taking the forefront on the way up, and - he suspects Tadgh’s going to react to the bright case on the computer. “There may be footage? I didn’t ask Sebastian.”
“We’ve got our own thing going, but…” Shaun nods. “It doesn’t tend toward the same sort of strength and skill specifics, I think. Most assassins you don’t want to be conspicuous.” Or, conversely, you want the Edward Kenways and Jacob Fryes of the assassin world, The ones who can knock you out so fast you won’t remember what you saw.
“We should do a field trip sometime.” Shaun muses to Tadgh. “Drag everyone through. There’s plenty of good footholds on the castle itself...I think we could PROBABLY talk the powers that be into it.”
“Should we be planning this in front of him?” Tadgh snorts. “The castle walls at least. That seems like a better late night surprise doesn’t it?”
And then he’s clueing into the computer case there, and raising an eyebrow. Pink? Okay. He’s a little bemused, but…”Let’s see, then.”
“Ex-bodyguard. Mostly you stand around looking impressive until you may as well be large furniture. And then you leap like a praying mantis. So to speak.” Noah puts the kettle on, and sets the toast on the little table. “So, want to pick the music this time, Fawkes? Since you know what Falcon might like? Or shall I pick something random?”
There’s some pinned up crayon drawings on the wall of some oddly colored farm animals, and a couple of mandala like patterns. “Shaun had the Fine Art of Swearing. Want to check the stack and see what you like, Tadgh?”
“Explains getting past all the ones I’ve had to get past.” Shaun muses. “Took a little bit of technical fiddlling and mind games against that type. Better than the bored night janitor trying to stay awake, at least. You get a modicum of challenge that way. And closer to your random, given what I know about his taste in music. It’s not exactly the effect you’re looking for.”
“Why not?” Tadgh’s admittedly kind of amused at the concept. “Let’s have a look.”
“Jazz, or something from around the world? No words?” Noah’s bringing up the options on the computer. “I’ve been basically trying to find things that sound like home.”
“Jazz would work.” Tadgh nods slowly. “And I’ll give the other a bit of a try if you like.” Because might as well, right? Living a little, or something. And that includes selecting his very own curseword to color. Because it only seems right.
“How about -” Noah digs around a bit. “Fellow from a war torn region, very good with one of those electric guitars, so it sounds a bit more modern, singing about peace, not that it’s in English.” He slides the laptop over for Tadgh to poke at it. “Passable for something in the background? Someone said he sounded something like Hendrix at times. Not that I know what that means? I tried googling it, and ended up having the google argue about types of electric guitars.”
“Oh hey.” Shaun sounds fairly interested as that comes out.. “Yeah the music thing is...It requires a lot of crawling through the you tubes.” Somehow he’s keeping a straight face as he says that. Sort of anyway.
“Ignore him.” Tadgh tells Noah, shaking his head. “I did NOT call it the you tubes.” Probably, anyway. “...We barely had an internet and it wasn’t something you used to watch bloody videos. You KNOW that.” he tells Shaun, who is grinning anyway.
“You’d basically find a bar you liked where I was from. The Bunansas favored one with known rebel leanings, which tended to play radical songs late at night, but had pretty good food, and wasn’t breaking the law. So they got a smattering of guards during the day showing up and buying food, and they got less reports because there’d be someone around saying no, nothing was up there.” Noah digs out the one he was working on. He’s about two thirds of the way done.
“You couldn’t really get proper Landisser singing, not in Archades, but I had a few places I’d end up. I was usually the sober guy. And you’d get music. Fighting while there were performers around was considered bad taste. Damaging an instrument was considered to be bad luck.” It got old, of course, when you were the only sober guy in a crowd of new soldiers, so he’d stay back some of the time.
“Sounds reasonable to me so far.” Tadgh’s pretty used to that sort of a thing by now. In the way of how things usually went for him. The radical leanings part too, doesn’t exactly phase him. “They were what, inches from a war? Where else would you want to be when you’re challenging the powers that are? “
“Being the sober guy.” Shaun shudders. “I always hated drawing the short straw. My drunk coworkers were always easier to get along with when I was drunk too. And remind me not to mention faculty holiday parties.” He shudders.
“Makes sense with the instruments too.” Tadgh points out, nodding. “You know the guy who sings some weekends at the pub when it’s not Fryeday Night Fights? I feel like he’d strangle anyone who got near his guitar.”
“Balthier said he listened to him? Riley or something like that? Kelvin?” Noah’s trying to remember. “I haven’t been to the pub, even if the tarts were lovely. It feels a bit like that should be Basch’s territory with Balthier, and I’m afraid to take that from them.” He’s pausing and then leaning to snag a yellow crayon to color in some curving petal like bits on the mandala. “I don’t think Basch has that same - desire to carve out a space where you don’t watch your back like I do.”
Even with someone new, here, it’s peaceful. Fawkes is a known quantity, and the tea is good. The puffy cake cookie things are pretty nice, and they taste like there’s real butter in them. Falcon still reminds Noah a bit of some of the old guard explosive engineers. Deft with his hands and haunted a bit by the past. Maybe that’s why Balthier was drawn to him so much?
“Kevin, actually.” Shaun’s sat through quite a few of his sets now, for some reason or other. “He IS a bit protective of his gear. From the future of all things,, not that you’d guess unless he’s bringing it up as a relevant point to an introduction. And, really?” he blinks.
“That’s...kind of adorable, actually, that you think to do the space thing. And no, he seems…” Shaun pauses.
“He’s more putting himself back in the position where he might get asked to, isn’t he?” That’s Tadgh, and it’s not really as much of a question as you might think. “Heading back into the fray because you’re not exactly coping with things being calm? Not that extreme, I mean, but it happens.”
“Basch? Or Balthier?” Noah tilts his head. “I try to not pry too deep with my brother. You know the stories of - oh - a teacher coming home and accidentally treating household tasks like they’re a lesson plan? Or a manager barking at someone at home like they’re staff? I interrogated my brother. I - what’s the term? Unclean hands? I have those.”
Shaun and Tadgh share a look at that question, and they’re saying, at practically the same moment, the first thing that comes to mind:
“Evie.”
No. but seriously, that IS close to the truth. “Not quite in the unclean hands sense that I know about though.” Shaun’s saying now. “But the less extreme examples, anyway.
“It’s a bit - I don’t know. Think of it like I see buttons, and I know I’d get a reaction, if I poked them. But I know how I got them, and I know he knows how I got them, and people should not be treated as switches to flip. No matter your cause. Free will exists for a reason, after all. No one welcomes the Fates controlling you.” Noah picks up some toast to fiddle with. “It’s why I try to tell people. If I ask too much, or a poke too deep, tell me to stop. And Basch of all people should not even have to ask.”
“Definitely not.” Shaun agrees, firmly “Exactly what our point is, in all of this.” He’s watched the effects of that control, a lot, and it never ends very well at all. “Reasonable, probably. I feel like I should know more about my people that way.”
Noah nods. “But - I could see Basch trying for normal. I took that away from him, and neither of us had much of a chance to be without tasks for our time. I hope he can find happiness at it.” He pauses, and looks bemused at his phone before typing a reply. “I at least am happier than I’ve been in years here.”
He hesitates. “I take it that Evie has trouble letting go of work? That doesn’t seem that surprising, and it is a rough thing.” He reaches over to pat the air near Fawkes. “I’m glad at least that you feel - okay here. I try to have this place be calm.”
“Truth be told, I’m happier too.” Tadgh sees no reason to mask the fact. “Annoyed I can’t directly impact a few things, but overall?” He shrugs. “It’s making a life, isn’t it? I’m glad I’ve got a shot at that much. There wasn’t much of one in Derry, even without...everything.”
“Evie’s worse than me, I think.” Shaun hates to admit to that, but it IS true. It’s almost like giving up a weird badge of pride, which he gets is a little messed up. “And it’s very calm. It’s a good change.”
Noah tilts his head. “Could I see with Bathier about doing something like this with him? He was talking about buying a place. In Archades, they’d call this a bower, technically, but that gets into social things. Which -” He shrugs. “No point in blathering about it, since we’re not home. What’s the proper name for the tiny cakes? They’re really nice.”
“I think that’s not a bad idea.” Shaun sees where that might help a lot. “And ooh a bower? Isn’t that meant to be decked with flowers or something suitably romantic? I don’t know, I don’t have a bone in my body for that kind of thing, but…Those are Madeleines. They’re named for a saint actually. Well Magdalene, but they associate the name there. At least that’s the version I got out of things.”
“Well, if I said I wanted to build a bower with Sebastian, there’s a definitely romantic aspect to that. But it’d also be - I suspect if we did it, we’d have something for his hobbies, like - something for making arrows, some books, and a comfortable place to curl up with them.” Noah looks thoughtful. “I guess the idea is - a safe place that is designed so you don’t have to have a mask. If that makes sense? And Madeleines. They’re good.”
He tries to think of how to put it. “You didn’t have a lot of space, in Archades. So the idea of putting aside a space that’s just for the people dearest to you - I could see how it got romanticized and important to the culture?”
That also makes sense enough as far as Shaun’s concerned. It’s a nice idea, at least if you’re easing people into things. Weird to think of not being able to, he doesn’t know exactly the term for it, but not being able to conceal things though. He’s definitely not used to things like that, anymore.
“Sounds nice if you can get the space for it.” Tadgh nods. “It’s the sort of thing you sometimes think about, yeah? Getting out to somewhere it’s just you, right? If you can have that here, I’m happy for you.”
Noah says, “I don’t think you ever get it - exactly. But - this is kind of an attempt, here? What would you change? If you’d come by again?”
“I can’t think of much, considering.” Tadgh muses. “I mean, it’s all kind of...suited to you, isn’t it? “ And cultural stuff, he doesn’t ask too many questions about just now, It hardly seems to be something you do. At least he knows people questioning that kind of thing annoy HIM so there’s that.
“If you think of something, feel free to let me know.” Noah smiles at him. “Same for you, Shaun.” He sips his tea and makes a content sound before sliding his coloring over a little to enjoy the mug while it’s still warm. “So - can I ask an etiquette question? Would offering a tea loaf to someone who’s feeling a little guilty be too close to offering them tea earlier? Or does that sound still fairly polite?”
“Hmm.” Shaun blinks at the question. “You know, I don’t think that’s come up for me ever. Uh it seems nice enough as gestures go, and pretty polite. Might put them at ease a little?”
“I can try that then.” Noah waves a hand. He’s not sure how to explain the mess of the correct gift and fashion in politics. Though admittedly bickering could result in things like gloves being a popular gift (after a spate of poisoning) and rings as a coming of age gift with little protective charms on them. “In Archades, it could be seen as a little rude to repeat hospitality.”
“Frought situation?” Tadgh asks, raising his eyebrow. There SEEMS to be something more in that,definitely. Might as well follow up. It’d probably help with Balthier too.
“More of - it’s awkward to get the right thing, and it was very status - testing?” Noah shrugs. “I didn’t have status as much as - I needed to be politically careful enough, and watch what other people were doing. But it’s different here. You know -” He turns his mug with his fingers. “We could use the practice yard at some point. I should be all right to do some swordwork.”
“Oh geez.” Tadgh nods slowly. “That’d involve a lot of careful stepping, to be sure. It is, though. And really now? I have to say that’d be fantastic.”